BHUBANESWAR: In a decision which will give relief to thousands of students pursuing their career in foreign countries and other Indian citizens living abroad, the state government has simplified procedure for authentication of certificates by the home department.
Instead of pursuing the cumbersome process of getting confirmation of a person's date of birth, marriage date or any other incident from the local authorities for authentication of certificates, the home department will now accept self-certification by the person concerned to issue authentication of these certificates.
The proposal to simplify the procedure given by the principal secretary in the home department Asit Kumar Tripathy was accepted by the state government. Getting the certificates authenticated as required by the foreign governments took six to eight months. After the introduction of the new procedure, the home department can issue authentication of certificates in four to five days.
In case of authentication of birth certificate of a student sudying in a foreign university, a letter used to be issued by the home department to the chief district medical officer (CDMO) to confirm the place and date of birth of the applicant.
It took more than two to three months for the reply to reach the Home department. In some cases, the reply never came, putting the applicants to much difficult.
According to the decision of the state government, the applicant will have to submit an undertaking regarding genuineness of the certificates. The undertaking will also contain the fact that if the certificate is found to be false/tampered or any adverse is reported against the applicant, he will be held liable for any criminal action as per law.
Besides issuing authentication for documents as required by foreign countries through self certification, the home department has also decided to issue authentication of legal heir certificate, death certificate, health/medical certificate, driving licence, affidavit on marital status, affidavit on power of attorney, issue of no objection certificate for obtaining passport by government servant and issue of No Obligation to Return to India (NORI) Certificate through self-certification.